What happens when we are in between life and death? Is it darkness? Do you see your entire life flash before your eyes? Are you taken to a place where you have the opportunity to live the life you regret not living? That is where the library comes in for Nora.
Nora feels like the world is against her. She ran from everything that she ever thought she could be. Nora's story begins with her cat dying in the street. The next day she loses her job and wanders around town. She receives a call that she missed a piano lesson for her only student. She starts telling herself that everything in life that could go wrong for her did go wrong and why continue to live in misery?
That night, Nora finds herself inside a library with no exit. The librarian, a woman from her childhood, appears and describes how each book is a life that Nora is living based on a different choice that she made. Nora can choose to read any book and live that life. Once she has lived in that life enough to satisfy her curiosity, she will come back to the library.
The struggle between "what is" and "what could have been" is the common theme throughout this story. No matter what life she chose to live, she always came back to the library. Some lives were worse than her root life. Others left her longing for the life she had just left.
There is nothing that calls for any negative comments. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig takes place in England and is the first book I have read by an English author (that I know of). It was confusing to follow the conversations taking place as it appears to be common to use a single quote around speech instead of double-quotes.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. For me, this book was perfect. The imagery was fantastic. The lives that Nora chose all filled her with a level of emotions that left me thinking about different paths I could have taken and where I would be if I had made other choices. One of the most important decisions I made was to listen to my recruiter and wait to go to boot camp. I would not have met my husband when I did. I would not have my beautiful little girl. I cannot even imagine what my life would be like without them in my life. That is not a story I would want to live.
If you would like to read this for yourself, check out your local book stores and your local library. You can purchase it through Amazon (not an affiliate).
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